NINE TANKER CREW STILL MISSING

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Nine crew of the oil tanker MT Formosa
Product Brick, which caught fire after a collision with a bulk carrier off Port
Dickson south of here on Tuesday night, are still missing, the Malaysian Marine
Department said.

In a statement, the department said the search and rescue operations were
still ongoing comprising assets and personnel from the department as well as
from the Marine Department, Marine Police, and Fire and Rescue Department.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is coordinating operation.

"The fire onboard the ship was extinguished at 4.55am THursday," it said,
adding that nine of the ship's crew remained unaccounted for.

Sixteen of 25 crew members of the Liberia-registered MT Formosa Product
Brick were rescued early Wednesday by rescue teams and a passing vessel.

All the 22 crew of the other vessel, British-registered MV Ostende Max, are
safe and the vessel is currently anchored off port limit of Port Dickson.

MT Formosa Product Brick, meanwhile, was currently lying just outside the
traffic separation scheme and listing at about 11 degrees on its port side, the
department said.

The two vessels collided at 8.52pm on Tuesday within the precautionary area
of the east bound lane of the traffic separation scheme in the Strait of Melaka.

The MT Formosa Product Brick was carrying 58,000 litres of naphtha and was
on its way to Deasan, South Korea, while the MV Ostende Max, which was not
carrying any cargo, was on its way to Singapore, the statement said.

The Marine Department said to date, there were no oil spills reported.

It said that following the collision, navigational warnings were
continuously broadcast to inform other vessels transiting the incident area.
-- BERNAMA